Based on the works of Alan Moore, The Show, directed by Mitch Jenkins, is a continuation from the pair’s short film series Show Pieces. If you’re not familiar with the short film series (as I was not), watching The Show is rather baffling. Having done some reading around the project it seems as though The Show does indeed follow on directly from events in the shorts. The shorts follow Faith (Siobhan Hewlett) and James (Darrell D’Silva), but The Show joins the mysterious Fletcher Dennis (Tom Burke) as he hunts for a stolen artefact. His investigation leads him to cross paths with Faith and thereafter he stumbles into the strange nocturnal land of The Show.
Having not seen what has come before, elements of The Show and how they interconnect are a bit of a riddle to puzzle out. The film isn’t completely inaccessible, but a prior history with the world certainly makes things a little easier. For the uninitiated, the mystery elements of the plot are vast as we follow Fletcher around and try to take in the world alongside him. The narrative pushes forwards as a never-ending sequence of meetings and conversations. It’s an exposition heavy story, complete with grand monologues that clue everybody in. The wordy nature of the script can be a lot to digest and close attention has to be paid or else you’re going to miss a key piece of information.
Stylistically, The Show is a marvel of surrealism. Set within the streets of modern day Northampton, there’s something not quite normal lurking under the surface, each character Fletcher encounters is a curious eccentric. Fletcher himself is a bit of a strange one. He’s dressed like a grown-up version of the infamous Beano comic character, Dennis the Menace, something that is potentially intentional. There’s a strong argument that Fletcher is Dennis the Menace grown-up, not just because of his clothes and hairstyle, but also the fact that his weapon of choice is a catapult and revealing conversations about a dog. If this is an intentional addition, and the story of The Show is a tale of grown-up Dennis, then it makes everything that happens appear even weirder.
The bizarre antics continue as Fletcher visits some detectives for help. Not only do these private-eyes end up being children, they also narrate their lives and thoughts in a throwback homage to the early era of film noir. Their encounter is a great laugh-filled sequence and one that encapsulates the feeling of the film perfectly. The absolute best moment though features Moore himself as a character made up to essentially look like a very glittery version of the Man in the Moon. All the on-screen oddities work to create a dreamland world in which Fletcher and the viewer can stumble through together.
During a pre-film introduction at Arrow Video FrightFest, director Mitch Jenkins shared that he and Moore have plenty more material for their fictitious world. Alongside the pre-existing shorts and this feature, the team have also been working on transposing the world into the televisual format. According to Jenkins, they already have about five episodes scripted, and having ingested The Show, a television series seems like the perfect fit to explain the story and setting. As a stand alone feature film, The Show is an exposition heavy and (for the uninitiated) confusing story that has some interesting moments, just not enough to capture the attention of the casual viewer.
The Show
Summary
The Show has been made for fans of Show Pieces. Those familiar with the series of shorts, as well as Moore’s previous writings, will enjoy this continuation of the story. However, those that missed what came before may find themselves easily confused and needing to take several leaps of faith to keep the film’s momentum going
The Show was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2021. The Show is released on Altitude.film and other digital platforms from 18 October.
